Cao Cao was a little depressed and anxious. After more than ten days of attack, the 200,000 high-ranking officials did not achieve any substantial results, but instead lost tens of thousands of troops. Now that Guandu reinforcements have arrived, the subsequent attack will be even more difficult, especially with Guo Jia, a very strategic military advisor, it will not be so easy to successfully capture Guandu.

Xun You glanced at Cao Cao and said hesitantly: "Lord, I always feel that this is a conspiracy, and it was a trap made by Lu Ning for us."

After hearing this, Cao Cao said in confusion: "Gongda, what conspiracy?"

Xun You thought for a moment and said, "Lord, I have been thinking these days that Lu Ning has indeed sent several large armies overseas to conquer, and at the same time he also used troops to Hanzhong and Xiliang. In this case, Lu Ning should stay in Jinyang. Why did Lu Ning leave the country? This has always made me puzzled."

After hearing this, Cao Cao's face changed drastically and said in panic: "Gongda, are you saying that Lu Ning didn't leave the country at all?"

After hearing this, Xun You shook his head and said, "Information from various channels shows that Lu Ning must have left the country. There is no need to question this. It's just that when several armies are closely conquering each other, what else is Lu Ning more important than conquering? And leaving at this critical moment is definitely a purpose."

Cao Cao said: "Gongda, just say it!"

Xun You said: "Lord, I suspect that Lu Ning has set up a plan for us and specifically asked us to attack Guandu. As long as we attack Lu Ning, Lu Ning will have an excuse to attack us. The purpose is to slap us, but there is no suitable excuse."

Cheng Yu said: "Gongda, does that boy Lu Ning need an excuse to attack where he wants to attack? Is there anything in the world that Lu Ning dares not do? Lu Ning attacked our Sizhou, advanced into Yongzhou, attacked Hanzhong, and did not make any excuses to fight Xiliang."

Xun You smiled bitterly and said, "Lu Ning has always acted irrationally, but Lu Ning has always been very credible, and everyone should recognize this. After all, Lu Ning has an agreement with us. If he attacks us at will, it will indeed damage his reputation. Although we and Lu Ning only have a trade agreement, it is still a constraint after all."

After hearing this, Cao Cao said, "Gongda, what you said makes sense. Those who have a trade agreement with Lu Ning have basically not been attacked by Lu Ning. This is true. Lu Ning is indeed very credible in this regard."

Dong Zhao said: "After more than ten years of development, Lu Ning's strength has indeed improved qualitatively, and it is possible to have ideas about his lord's territory. If Lu Ning doesn't solve us, it will be difficult for him to use troops in Jiangdong, Jingzhou and other places."

Cao Cao said, "What do you mean? We are in a difficult situation now. Even if we withdraw our troops, we have offended Lu Ning. Lu Ning also uses the excuse to deal with us."

Xun You said: "Lord, it's not easy for us to take down the reinforcements when Guandu comes; and there are tens of thousands of troops from Taishi Ci in Xingyang in Hulao Pass, and it is possible to send troops to Xuchang at any time; and Tian Choo leads troops to reinforce Baima, the purpose must be to Puyang; and Zhang Liao's army has already captured Huaiyin after solving Yuan Shu, and advanced to Xiajie City. Xuzhou may be difficult to protect, and Qingzhou is also very subtle; lord, in response to such a situation, he should strive to protect himself."

Xu You said: "Then weren't we doing nothing after we left this time? We didn't get anything and lost tens of thousands of soldiers."

Cao Cao thought for a while and said, "Gongda, are you saying that Taishici's army will attack Xuchang? But Taishici doesn't have many soldiers and horses, only 50,000 people, but he still has to station in Hulao Pass, Sishui Pass, Xingyang, Wuguan and other places, and the number of soldiers and horses that can be mobilized is no more than 40,000; and Xuchang has 50,000 soldiers and horses to defend the city, which is impossible for Taishici to capture Xuchang; and Puyang also has 50,000 soldiers and horses to guard. As long as you don't engage in field battles with Lu Ning's army, there will be no problem in defending the city."

Xun You said: "My lord, you gave Li Dian and Liu Yan the order to attack the white horse; Tian Chou led his troops to reinforce, and the troops in Zhang Yan's hands would not suffer any loss. Once Li Dian and Liu Yan's army were entangled by Tian Chou's army in the feint attack, it would be difficult to escape; Lu Ning's army even used war horses to travel for infantry marching, and I always think that Puyang will be in trouble; if there is a problem with Puyang, then Tian Chou can take Jiyin, Juancheng, advance into Dingtao, Zhiyang, and threaten Chenliu, and cut off our army's retreat. Our food and grass will be in trouble, and we are facing a situation of attacking from front and back."

After hearing this, Cao Cao felt that the situation was a bit serious and immediately ordered: "Let Li Dian and Liu Yan lead their troops to retreat to Puyang. There is no need to feint the white horse anymore. Be sure to guard the Puyang city and not leave the city to fight."

After the commander received the order, he immediately ran towards Puyang quickly. But to Lao Cao's surprise, he ordered it at this time. Don't you think it's too late?

After hearing this, Xiahou Dun felt that he was going to withdraw his troops and return to Xuchang, and immediately said, "Lord, don't you avenge Zi Lian?"

Only Cao Cao's brothers dared to ask such words, but the other generals and strategists did not dare to ask directly; if the war ended in such a stalemate, the 200,000 army could only waste food and grass in vain, but they just didn't dare to say it was easy to ban the troops.

Cao Cao is a hero and a hero. He will not lose his mind because of Cao Hong's hatred, nor will he blindly be stubborn and will consider the overall situation at any time; otherwise, in such a chaotic world, he will not even know how to die.

Cao Cao smiled bitterly and said, "Yuan Rang, continue to attack tonight and attack again tomorrow. If you still can't take Guandu, let's go back! Your own safety is more important, don't let that boy Lu Ning plot against him."

After hearing this, Xiahou Dun didn't want to say anything more. After saluting Cao Cao, he went to prepare for the evening's offensive matters; Cao Cao continued to study various possible situations with his advisers, and what solutions could he do to deal with it.

After dinner, Cao's army began a fierce siege battle and even dispatched a city-killing car, trying to use the opportunity when the defenders left the city wall to break the city gate open in one fell swoop; but this was not easy, Guandu city gates were all made of steel, so it was basically unlikely to break open by hitting wood, and they could only be in vain.

Cao's army still used their bows to shoot the Guandu city wall indiscriminately, while Lu Ning's army on the city wall had already evacuated, and the soldiers in the three arrow towers on the city wall were all retreated cleanly; Wei Yan and Beikeham led 10,000 foreign troops to avoid arrows under the city wall, and each of them had a shield, which greatly reduced the threat of arrows.

Beikeham participated in the war in China for the first time, and he had a strong fighting spirit. He had not participated in the battle for many years. When he was in Rome, Beikeham was a famous centurion and was very brave in combat. His foreign legions were also trained by him personally. Although he had not experienced major actual combat, he followed Gao Shun to fight against Luzon Island in Yidao, and had also seen blood and was baptized by war. His combat ability cannot be questioned.
Chapter completed!